Compressed air-driven turbines



Feb. 19, 1957 G. c. MEREDEW ET AL COMPRESSED AIR-DRIVEN TURBINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1953 Feb. 19, 1957 G. c. MEREDEW ETA L' L COMPRESSED AIR-DRIVEN TURBINES Filed Feb. 11, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 19, 1957 Filed Feb. 11, 1953 G. C. MEREDEW ETTA].

COMPRESSED AIR-DRIVEN TURBINES 5 Shets-Sheet s Feb. 19, 1957 G. C. MEREDEW ETAL COMPRESSED AIR-DRIVEN TURBINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 11, 1955 IN VENTORS W a 94W 4M uhmvm', i 5.14% B {Ma a5, u -ys 1957 G. c. MEREDEW ET AL 2,782,001

COMPRESSED AIR-DRIVEN TURBINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 11, 1953 Wm/ J 11w EN 70R 5 III vim/JR United States Patent zpsz oi George Gharles Mcredew, London, England, Kenneth "TFVdtoi'iWilliamtBeirris, Adelaide,:SouthtAnstralia,' -Australia, and Frederick Ed hue aadaasttauvts to tario,: an dgand llgo sglgoyc -la i a h tl sqt aa Applicationzltebruary 11, 1953, Serial No. 336,513 slate -Pri a d B with L terat fi s stl fisalu t ge- $1. 6 iuyention provides .a. compressedeair-tdriven.sturr bit-re hich :is, characterised. by a..:ceptr-ifugal sspced .tgoveri pr ;c ,ompri sing an axially :movableacontrolevalvetkfor the lIQPJYiOf compressed-.airrto ltheturbina-acontrol .rod f fj1h5fllV tmovable'along ,theaxisof rotation of-the 11312 4 91. mtfir and one Lot" more centrifugalzgovernor wa difiamue 1Sm y,' st

w ghtsawhichiimpartz axial imovementsfito :the to I opera euhewalve.

:JRl'QfemhlY :the zvalve is .of the piston or sleeve :type and it may. lb? arranged to operate .within :an axially extending .inlet conduit for .the air and ,to controlione or more pOrts; i the lcircumferential wall .of the conduit.

'Theigoyernor weight or each weight may helm-the form o' fiia' bellcrank and it maybe supported 'inla carrier rotatable ,twith the turbine rotor iahoutitheuaxis thereof, the hellcrank .beingisupportedtonthe carrier for pivotal moyementabout .an axis; exte dingEin :the circumferential directiongnd having.onearm.extendingiinthedirection of theiaxis' of ,rotation'uof the 11:91:01. to constitute-the weight portion .and the other tarmwextending tradially einwiardly totengageithe control rod. I 1

ice j :2 the-specification of "Patent No. 2,721,677 ,andmdrivfis the pump spindle 14 through gearing 52, S6,, ,theax'is of r,o- "ration of the turbine being normally horizontal. The turbine has two stages and 'is arranged for axial how of the air in'the direction towards the pump. 'Theair enters through a inlet pipe 101 and passes through PQIIIS ,102 to atapering annulus 103 leading to a nozzle plate 104. After leaving the nozzles the air passes through two sets of moving blades 105,106 and one set of fixedblades 1'07 'to an outlet 1108 fromwhichjit passes through a shroud l0? around the outside of the turbine to an outlet pipe 110 which surrounds the inlet pipe 101 untilitreaches a fitting 112 at which the inlet and "outlet pipes separate.

The turbine rotor '115 is mounted on one end ,of a shaft 116, 't-hedriving gear 52 ,beingrnounted or; the shaft nearthe otherie nd thereof. The shaft is supported, near its ends hy aball bearing 11-7 anda roller bearing 118.

Secured to the rotor 'shaft between the gear Whe ls; and-the bearingl ljyther is an annular housing lzd provided with' bearings for two diametrically opposed. governor -weightsii2-1l Each weight is pivoted about a-Xis 1 2.2"extendingin the circumferential direction 'of'the: housing 120 and each is in the form of a "bellcrankr One armiida of the 'bellerank extends in the axial di-- motion and is moyable outwardly to a limiting position at which it engages with theinternal surface 123 of the housing. The-other arm i-Zglb of the weight extends i'adia'lly inwardly-tea position just short of the axis of the rotor shaft.

."The rotor shaft 11-6 is -hollow and slidable within the 'shafttherc is one part-125 of a valve control rod. This rodhas a head=126-at its inner e d which is "engagedby =th e inwardly directedarms 1221b ofthe governor weights, the arrangement being that as the arms 121a of the weights move-outwardly they push the rod in the axial direction-away'fromthe pump (i. e. towards theright as viewed in Figure?!) andthrough the turbine rotor. At its Other end the rod carries the inner race 130 of a ball bearing -of the magneto type capable of transmitting thrust. 'Theouter'race 131 of this bearing is carried in a floating housing 132-which is resiliently held against rotationlby springs 133extending'between the housing and anchor pins on the turbine casing. The housing 132 is substantially closed and is packed with high melting point alt isalso:preferredithatthe:iveights..areupositioned on 3 one-side .Tof the tu'r oine'rotor, .considei ed in the axial direction, and the valve istomthe other side ofthe rotor. v The,;control rod mayxbe divided into two parts, one free .to rotatelwithrthe rotor and Jgovcrnor weights and the other attachedi'to :theazalue and-arrangedtor nn rotation and there may be a thrust bearing (es -g .-a--ball or roller bearing) between the two parts. 7

One specific construction of a-tiirbine according to the invention and some, modifications thereof .will now be described by of example, and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.inwhich: v

Figure l representstaside view-of aturbine Figure 2 represents. atplanviewl of theiinit, I .iFi-gure 3 represents ai -longitudinal iverticah section through theitu'rbineandapauof-thepuir p, 1

Eigu're aviewtalcen online in'Figure' -3, and

Figure 5 represents apart vertical-sectional view of a mod esli orm o turbiue ,and..puma one larger scale. i q 7 The fuel pump 90 employed in the present example is constructed as described in the specification of Patent No. 2,721,677 with reference to Figure 3 of the drawings of that specification but incorporates some modifications. The turbine 100 replaces the electric motor described in Page w V interide'dior' immersiontin .an aircraft fuel tanh,

grease. 0n its end face the housing carriesa hard button 134 which bearsagainst a-headlSS on the end 0f the otherpart-136 of the valve control rod. The arrangementpermits this-part 136 of the rod to remain stationary during rotation of the part with e rotor. j

'I=he non-potatihg-partlild 'efthe control rod is axia'lly slidable inta sleeve 140 provided by a stationary but axiallypad justable part 141-61 the turbine casing on the side of the-rotorremote-from the pump and gearing}, This part of thecontrolrod carries at it-s -'-end=-ren'1ote f %om the pump abalancedsleeve valve 1 %4- which is located within an axially extending" portion 142 of the'inlet conduit for the air. "The valvecontrolsthe ports 'l-tllwhich arein the circumferential wall iofr this portion of the conduit. These ports pass obliquely through the wall towardsthe turbine and the leading edge 143-ofthe valve is chamfered tocorrespond; The valve moyes outwardly away ,from

an a s t Seatin on the hsadflfii u th s to lets-as satsartase f nthw rt k which is, as already mentioned, axially adjustable, this adjustment being effected by screwing the part 141 into and out of the casing and providing means for adjusting the loading of the springs 145, 146. The springs tend,

r at .hel e l mast ri gs .45 1

to move the valve to its open position. The springs are designed to ensure that the valve is nearly, but not quite, lsochronous. Thus in the present example, the springs are sufficiently strong to prevent the valve moving under the action of the governor weights until the rotor has reached about 14,800 R. P. M. The movement to close the valve then takes place over a range of a few hundred revolutions per minute, the range being sufiicient to prevent hunting.

When the turbine pumps are used as fuel pumps in aircraft propelled by jet engines, the compressed air for driving the turbines may be derived from the engines. Such compressed air is commonly at elevated temperature (e. g. above 200 C.) and for use with air at such high temperatures special precautions to maintain lubrication of the thrust bearing 130, 131 may be necessary. It has been found that provided suitable grease is used in the bearing housing the arrangement shown in Figures 1-4 can be operated satisfactorily up to temperatures of about 160 to 180 C. at the bearing although it is preferred that the temperature be kept below 100' C. This result may be achieved by cooling a portion of the air and directing the cooled air onto the bearing.

Figure 5 shows a modification of the above construction suitable for somewhat higher bearing temperatures (e. g. 180 to 200 C.) provided suitable oil is employed. In this construction oil (splashed by the gears) from a sump in the gear housing drains through a hole 150, passageway 151 and port 152 formed in a fixed member 153, into a space 154 between the member and the inner wall of the shaft 116'. a screw-thread 155 so that as the shaft 116 rotates it feeds the oil along the screw-thread, towards the right in the drawing. After leaving the thread the oil passes inwardly through ports 156 into the interior of member 153 and thence along the part 157 of the push rod which in this construction is tubular and leads to the interior of the bearing 158 from which the oil is slowly lost. To control the rate of flow of oil along the push rod and hence the rate of loss, the rod is filled with wires 159.

We claim:

1. A compressed-air-driven turbine comprising a rotor including a rotor shaft having an axial bore extending along at least a part of the length of the shaft from one end thereof, a stator embodying bearings for supporting the rotor shaft during rotation, a nozzle for directing air onto the rotor and an inlet conduit for compressed air leading to the nozzle having at least one control port through which the air passes, a valve member cooperating with the port to constitute. a valve to control the supply of air to the nozzle, a two-part axially extending control rod for the valve member of which one part is rotatable with the rotor shaft, is partly within, supported by and axially slidable along the bore aforesaid, with one end protruding from the end of the shaft, centrifugal means carried by the rotor for effecting axial movements 'of the said rod part, the other part of the rod being outside the said bore and operatively connected to the valve member to effect movements thereof on axial movements of the rod, a rolling-contact thrust bearing between the two parts of the rod comprising two races and rolling members between the races, one of the races being attached to the first-mentioned rod part for rotation therewith and means for holding the other race against rotation while permitting the thrust bearing to move axially and to float radially.

The member 153 is formed with 4 through the thrust bearing in opposition to the centrifugal means.

4. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 1 in which the thrust hearing has a thrust-transmitting engagement with the end of the second-mentioned rod part, which engagement permits relative floating movement transverse to the rod axis of the bearing and rod part.

5. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 1 in which the valve member is a sleeve movable in the axial direction of the rotor shaft.

6. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 1 in which the rotatable part of the control rod is hollow and has an outlet passage leading to one of the stator bearings, there is a fixed axial screw member within an axial bore in the shaft and passageways leading from a source of lubricating oil around the screw-threaded memher and into the hollow rod whereby rotation of the shaft and rod part tends to feed oil along the thread and so through the rod to the stator bearing.

7. A compressed-aindriven turbine as claimed in claim 6 and including axially extending wires packed into the hollow rod for at least a part of the length thereof to provide restricted passageways for the oil.

8. A compressed-air-driven turbine comprising a rotor including a rotor disc and a rotor shaft with a diametrical slot intermediate in its length and an axial bore extending from one end at least to the slot, a stator embodying bearings for supporting the rotor shaft during rotation, nozzles for directing air onto the rotor and an inlet conduit for compressed air leading to the nozzles having at least one control port through which the air passes, a valve member cooperating with the port to constitute a valve to control the supply of air to the nozzle, a two-part axially extending control rod for the valve member of which one part is rotatable with the rotor shaft, is partly within, supported by and axially slidable along the bore aforesaid, one end of the rod protruding from the end of the shaft, two opposed centrifugal weights carried by the rotor for rotation therewith and having control-rodoperating parts engaging the control rod through the slot aforesaid whereby outward movement of the weights imparts axial movement to the rod, the other part of the rod being operatively connected to the valve member to effect opening and closing of the port on axial movement of the rod, a rolling contact thrust bearing between the two parts of the rod comprising two races, and rolling members between the races, one of the races being attached to the first-mentioned rod part for rotation therewith and means for holding the other race against rotation, said holding means permitting the thrust bearing to move axially and to float radially.

9. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 8 in which the centrifugal weights are positioned on one 2. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 1 in which the holding means aforesaid are resilient.

3. A compressed-air-driven turbine as claimed in claim 1 in which the centrifugal means operate to move the rod in one direction and there is a non-rotating spring acting side of the rotor disc and the thrust bearing is on the other side.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 769,612 Junggren Sept. 6, 1904 916,779 Piper Mar. 30, 1909 948,791 Nikonow Feb. 8, 1910 1,017,571 Loewenstein Feb. 13, 1912 1,484,813 Dake Feb. 26, 1924 2,124,339 Schellens July 19, 1938 2,382,111 Shepard Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 620,511 Germany Oct. 23, 1935 637,743 Germany Nov. 3, 1936 

